London Olympics: Indian gatecrasher identified as cast member

31 July, 2012

London Olympics 2012 Chief Sebastian Coe has said that the woman who gatecrashed India's parade at the Olympic opening ceremony was a member of the cast from the extravaganza but should not have been with the athletes. Indian officials were incensed by her unauthorised presence alongside flag-bearing wrestler Sushil Kumar on July 27, wearing red and blue in complete contrast to female members of the contingent who were sporting yellow saris and blue blazers.

THE MYSTERY woman of London Olympics who walked in India's parade at opening ceremony, left everyone shocked and confused, regarding her identity. Everyone was asking, "Who's that girl in red shirt and blue trouser?".

Now, as per ANI she has been identified as a member of cast and she was not an athlete and this was confirmed by the Chief Sebastian Coe. "She was not an athlete but she clearly started in a venue and yes we will be talking to Indian delegation about her," Coe said in a press conference.

On other side Indian officials were shocked with her unauthorized presence alongside the flag bearer Sushil Kumar and left many questions in their mind regarding security at the venue. But now she has been identified as Madhura Honey, a postgraduate student, hailing from Bangalore.

According to the latest reports, her father in Bangalore confirmed that his daughter is a good dancer and went to Olympics as a dancer for the opening ceremony. "My daughter was selected for a performance at the inaugural by Danny Boyle," said Madhura's father, K L Nagendra, a leather export entrepreneur based in Bangalore.

Wearing totally contrast dress, red sweat shirt and blue trouser, brought herself into the eyes of everyone present at the ceremony. Acting chef de mission of the Indian contingent, Brig P K Muralidharan Raja was understandably agitated that a person who was not part of the delegation was allowed to accompany the team and hog the limelight in the process. "She had no business to walk in with the Indian contingent and we are taking up the issue with the organisers. We don`t know who she is and why she was allowed to walk in. It is a shame that she was with the athletes in the march past", Raja told zeenews.com.

But on the other side, her father disagrees that his daughter did anything wrong. "Being an Indian, the organizing committee might have selected Madhura to take the team inside the stadium," said Nagendra.

Madhura is the second of three daughters of Nagendra and Janhavi, residents of Banashankari area in Bangalore. Madhura completed her masters in communication in 2009 from Christ University.